1940- 12-March Soviet-Finnish
war ends. 8-April Nazi
Germany occupies Denmark and invades Norway. 20
-April - . British land troops in Norway. 23
-April - Greece concludes armistice with Nazi
Germany.10-May Nazi Germany launches “Sichelschnitt” invasion
of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France. Churchill succeeds
Chamberlain as British Prime Minister. 13 - May -
Nazi General Erwin Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division crosses the Meuse River near
Dinant while General Heinz Guderian’s 19th Armored Corps crosses the Meuse
River at Sedan. 15 - May - The
Dutch surrender to Nazi Germany. 23 - May -
Boulogne, France, falls to Nazi Germany. 24 -
May - Allies withdraw from Norway. 27
May - Belgium surrenders to Nazi Germany. Allied
troops begin to evacuate from Dunkirk, France. 3-June United
States releases war material to Great Britain. 4 -
June - Evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk is
completed. Hitler allows 338,000 troops to escape to England. Churchill makes
his “We shall fight on the beaches...” speech to
Parliament. 9 - June -
Norwegian government falls to Germany. 10 -
June - Italy declares war on France and Great Britain. 14 -
June - Germans march into Paris. 22 - June -
France and Nazi Germany conclude armistice. 24 -
June - France and Italy conclude
armistice. 3-July British
naval forces attack French fleet at Oran. 10 -
July - Battle
of Britain - Nazi Germany begins air offensive against Great Britain with 65
German airplanes.16 - July - Hitler
issues an invasion of Great Britain directive, Operation Sealion. to the German
armed forces.18 - July - Churchill
makes his “This was their finest hour...” speech to
Parliament. 19 - July - Hitler
in the Reichstag makes a public peace offer to Britain, which is rejected on
the 22nd by Churchill. 31- July - German
high command meets with Hitler and agrees to attack the USSR in May. 27-Augus Congress
authorizes call of reserve components for 12 months’ duty. Hitler approves
Franco’s Spanish-German plan to attack Gibraltar. 3-
September - United States and Great Britain conclude
agreement to exchange destroyers (U.S.) for base rights (British). Hitler
orders that British cities will be bombed every night, in retribution for their
bombing of Berlin. 13 - September - Italy
invades Egypt seeking to gain control of the Suez Canal. 16 - September
-Draft - Selective Service law enacted by Congress. 18 -
September - Hitler postpones Operation Sealion. 22
September -Japanese invade French Indochina. 27 -
September - Axis - Nazi Germany, Italy, Japan
conclude three-power pact. October 23 Franco agrees to enter the war. 28 -
October - Italy attacks Greece. 31 -
October - Churchill considers the Battle of Britain
over 20 November . Hungary joined the
Axis, Romania joined the Axis

.

1941-- 5 January British
soldiers invaded Ethiopia. 29 -January - British-American
Staff Conversations. 1-Mar Bulgaria joined the Axis. 11 -March - Congress
passes Lend-Lease Act. 6-AprilGermany invaded
Greece and Yugoslavia.13 - AprilJapan
and Russia signed a non-aggression pact. 27-MayPresident
Roosevelt proclaims state of unlimited national emergency. 8 JuneBritish
and French forces invaded Syria. 22 June - Russia
is invaded by Hitler with approximately 3 million troops. 7-July United States
forces land in Iceland.26 -July United States declares oil embargo on
Japan. 7-Augus The Atlantic Charter was announced14-Augus - Roosevelt and Churchill
announce Atlantic Charter. 4-September German torpedo
attack on USS Greer opens tacit shooting war in Atlantic. 25 -September Army and Navy
Secretaries submit to Roosevelt an estimate of U.S. forces needed to defeat the
Axis and Japan. 1-October First Soviet Protocol signed by U.S., Great
Britain, and USSR at Moscow. 7-8 December . Japan delivers
simultaneous bombing attacks on Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, Wake, and Guam,
invades Malaya and Thailand, seizes Shanghai, and declares war on the U.S. and
Great Britain. 8 - December . German offensive in Russia bogs down Canada
Declares War on Japan. 9 - December . China declares war on Japan, Nazi
Germany, and Italy. 10 - December . Japanese capture
Guam, land on Luzon in Philippines. 11 - December . Nazi Germany and Italy
declare war on United States, and United States declares itself at war with
them. 18 - December . Japanese they attacked Hong Kong and on
Christmas Day the British surrendered. December - 20 Chennault’s Flying
Tigers enter combat against Japanese in China. 23 - December . General Macarthur
decides to evacuate Manila and withdraw to Bataan. Wake Island captured by
Japanese.

Students and Teachers of US History this is a video of Stanley and Christopher Klos presenting America's Four United Republics Curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. The December 2015 video was an impromptu capture by a member of the audience of Penn students, professors and guests that numbered about 200. - Click Here for more information

1942- 1-January United
Nations Declaration signed by twenty-six nations at war with Axis. 2 -January - Japanese
occupy Manila. 7 -January - American and Filipino
forces complete withdrawal into Bataan. 9-January - Combined
Chiefs of Staff established.14 -24. Anglo-American
Conference (ARCADIA) at Washington.19Japanese capture British
North Borneo. 23 Japanese capture Rabaul and Kavieng in the Bismarck
Archipelago, invade Bougainville in the Solomons. 1-February U.S.
Navy bombards Gilberts and Marshalls. 2Singapore
surrenders. 27 -28. Allies loose the Battle of
Java Sea. Japanese invade Java.March - November .Submarine
attacks in Atlantic rise to record heights. 7 Japanese occupy
Burma. 9War Department is reorganized.17 General
MacArthur reaches Australia and takes command of Allied forces.April 8 -15April
British-American conversations in London result in conditional agreement on
BOLERO-ROUNDUP Plan. 9Surrender of Bataan. 18 First
U.S. air bombardment of Tokyo. 2-MayJapanese
land on Tulagi, adjacent to Guadalcanal, where they soon began to build an
airstrip. 6 Surrender of all U.S. forces in Philippines. 8 Allies
win Battle of the Coral Sea. 20Japanese complete
conquest of Burma. 27Rommel opens drive into Egypt.3-6 JuneAllies
win Battle of Midway. 5The United States declared war on
Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. 7 Japanese invade western
Aleutians. 21 Axis troops seized Tobruk in North
Africa. 1-July Germans
capture Sevastopol. 2 Rommel’s advance stops at
border of Egypt. 4 One of the most devastating submarine attacks on
convoy to USSR along the northern route. 7Second
Soviet Protocol signed. 15 British suspend
convoys to USSR on northern route. 18-25.British-American.
conversations in London, resulting in decision to invade North Africa. 21 Japanese
landing near Gona, New Guinea, starts Papua Campaign. 7-Augus
South Pacific forces invade Guadalcanal, Florida, and Tulagi Islands, in the
Solomons. 19 British Commonwealth force raids Dieppe,
France that results in a disaster with 3,367 casualties including 1,946
prisoners of war. 23 Churchill accepts Roosevelt’s proposal
that the U.S. operate Persian Gulf facilities for aid to USSR. 14-September Battle
for Stalingrad begins. 23-October British
open counteroffensive at El Alamein. 8-November Allies
land at Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers in French North Africa. 10 Axis troops move into
Tunis and Bizerte. 11British offensive reaches Libya. French
resistance to Allies in North Africa ceases. Axis troops march into unoccupied
France. 13British recapture Tobruk. 15Allied
offensive in West reaches Tunisia.19The Russians
counter-attack at Stalingrad. 27French fleet scuttled
in Toulon harbor. 24 December Allied drive on Tunis ends in
stalemate.

1943- 14 -23 January Allied conference at Casablanca. 22 Campaign for Papua, New
Guinea, ends. 27 Eighth Air Force makes its first attack on Nazi Germany, at
Wilhelmshaven. 2-February Soviet Army destroys remnants of German Sixth
Army at Stalingrad. 9 Organized Japanese resistance on
Guadalcanal ceases. 20 Rommel breaks through Kasserine Pass,
Tunisia. 25 Allies retake Kasserine Pass. 2-4 March The Allies defeat the
Japanese in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. 13 Japanese troops
retreated across the Yangtze 16 Final Allied offensive in Tunisia
begins. 18 Americans capture E1 Guettar. 20 - 27 Montgomery breaks
through the Mareth Line. 11 - 31 May With recapture of Attu by Allies Japanese
are driven from the Aleutians. 13 Axis forces in northern Africa
surrendered. 12 -25. TRIDENT Conference in Washington. 13 Axis forces in Tunisia
surrender. 1-30 June Shipping losses reach new low, signalizing victory over
U-boat. 30 Allies begin operation for reduction of Rabaul (CARTWHEEL) with
attacks in central Solomons and New Guinea. 4-July Germany opened an
assault near the Soviet city of Kursk. 10 Allies invade Sicily. 25 Mussolini falls from
power in Italy.14 - 24 August QUADRANT Conference at Quebec. 17 End of Sicily
campaign. 23 Germans abandon Kharkov. 25 Allies complete
occupation of New Georgia, Solomon Islands. 3-September British troops
invade Southern Italy. Italy secretly signed an armistice with the Allies 4-16. Southwest Pacific
forces recapture Lae-Salamaua, New Guinea. 8 Italy formally
surrenders. 9 Allies under U.S. Fifth Army land on the Salerno beaches;
British troops land at Taranto. Allies failed to pierce German defenses at the
Hitler Line south of Rome. 11 Italian Fleet is surrendered at Malta.
1-October Allies enter Naples and occupy Foggia airfields. 2 Australians seize
Finschhafen, New Guinea. 13 Italy declares war on Nazi Germany. 14 Soviets reach
Zaporodzhe, industrial center of Ukraine. 19 - 30 Soviet, British,
American Foreign Ministers and military representatives confer in Moscow. 1-November South Pacific
forces invade Bougainville. 5 U.S. Fifth Army attacks German Winter Line in
Italy. 6 The Russians captured Kiev. 20 Opening of Central
Pacific offensive (Makin and Tarawa in Gilberts). 2 - 7
-December Allied conferences, Cairo-Tehran (SEXTANT, EUREKA). 14 Soviet armies begin
first phase of winter offensive. 26 Southwest Pacific troops invade New
Britain at Cape Gloucester.

1945 - January1-17 - Germany
withdraws from the Ardennes, 16th - The U. S. Army 1st and 3rd divisions
join forces after a month long separation while fighting the Battle of the
Bulge, 17th - Warsaw, Poland captured by Soviets, 26th - Auschwitz P.O.W
camp is liberated.February4 - 11 President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston
Churchill and Joseph Stalin hold conference in Yalta, 13-14th Allied bombing
destroys Dresden; March 6th - The final German offensive begins as they attempt to
defend Hungarian oil field, 7th - A bridge is established across the Rhine
at Remagen following the allies taking of Cologne, 30th - Danzig captured
by Soviet troops; April1st - German troops are trapped by United States while defending
Ruhr Allied offensive in North Italy, 12th - Concentration camps:
Belsen and Buchenwald liberated by Allies, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
dies, Vice President Harry S. Truman assumes the Presidency, 16th -- Soviets launch the
final attack on Berlin and Americans enter Nuremberg, 18th -- The surrounded
German Army surrenders at Ruhr, 21st -- The Soviet Army surrounds Berlin, 28th -- The Allies
capture Venice. Italian partisans capture and hang Mussolini, 29th – Dachau, P.O.W.
camp is liberated by the Americans 7th Army, 30th -- Adolph Hitler
commits suicide; May 2nd -- German troops in Italy surrender, 7th -- All German
forces submit to un conditional surrender to Allies, 8th -- Victory in
Europe, 9th -- Troops of the United States 7th Army capture Hermann
Goring, 23rd -- Reichsfuher Himmler commits suicide; June 5th - Germany is
divided and Berlin remains the seat of the government, 26th - United Nations
Charter signed; July 1st - Allied forces: U.S. British and French move
into Berlin, 16th - United States tests the atomic bomb; August 6th - United States
drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, 8th - After declaring
war on Japan, the Soviet army invades Manchuria, 9th - United States
drops 2nd atomic bomb on Nagasaki, 14th - Unconditional surrender by Japan; September 2nd - V.J. Day as
Japan signs unconditional surrender; October 24th - Birth of United Nations; November 20 - Nuremberg trials
begin; October 16th, 1946- Two hours prior to his execution, Herman Goring commits suicide.

World War II

1939 - 1945

by Neal McLaughlin -- August 2004

World War I, which was said to be "the war to end all wars," had definitely fallen short of this proclamation. Following the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the 3 major powers each retreated back to their neutral corners. This, however, is not to imply that they did so with a smile on their faces.

The results of World War I had been less than expected. Germany was extremely resentful of their territorial losses and at the demand made that they pay restitution. Italy, even though victorious, felt that she did not gain enough territory to offset their wartime expenditures or to satisfy their ambitions. Japan, also victorious, was beside them selves because they had not gained control of China as they had hoped.

The United States, United Kingdom and France, who had attained their war objectives, did not leave the arena as happy victors. The French and the British were frequently embroiled in disagreement on a postwar policy but neither country was confident in their abilities to defend the peace settlement. The United States, disenchanted by the Europeans failure to repay their war time debts, retreated into Isolationism.

The primary objective of the Great War was to make the "world safe for democracy." Following their defeat, Germany, as did most of the other post war states, adopted a Democratic constitution. However, by the 1920's, it appeared that the future would be paved in a form of nationalistic, militaristic totalitarianism known also as Fascism.

Fascism, was a promise to respond to the needs of the people more effectively than a democracy could and to assure defense against the state becoming communist. In 1922, Italy, under the direction of Benito Mussolini was the first post war country to establish a dictatorship.

Adolph Hitler and the National Socialist Party promised their people that he would overturn the ruling of the Versailles Treaty and expand the land of Germany, thus giving his people more space. In early 1930, depression fell upon Germany forcing the more moderate of parties to turn to the Nazis and Communism.

Japan, with her strong and powerful military intact did not adopt formal Fascism, but instead imposed a similar form of totalitarianism. The Japanese's military was well ahead of Hitler's and in 1931 they would clash with the Chinese near Mukden, and by 1938 occupy all of the Chinese ports.

In March of 1938, with the support of Mussolini, Hitler began his promised expansion project. Britain, who had been under the impression that they had established a treaty with Germany would later pledge their support to Poland if Hitler continued his forward thrust. France had already established a mutual defense treaty with Poland and she was prepared for a defensive if Germany in fact invaded Poland.

It now seemed that history was once again preparing to repeat itself. Germany continued their expansion program and Italy moved forward and seized Albania and in 1939 would unite with Germany. In reaction to this, Britain and France had abandoned their appeasement policy in favor of an anti-aggression front with her allies Turkey, Greece, Poland and Romania.

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland without a declaration of war. In return, on September 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Very little time passed before the remaining member of the Commonwealth of Nations joined them, with exception to Ireland.

America had wanted nothing to do with the European conflict and was trying very hard to remain neutral. However, as the conditions on the war front deteriorated, the United States was forced to intervene to prevent the total collapse of Britain. The 1941 passing of the Lend-Lease act permitted America to extend her hand out to Britain. After meeting with Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt agreed with the proposed charter to pronounce the aims of the democratic states.

The United States established military bases to protect shipping lanes from U-boat attacks while issuing repeated warnings to Germany, who failed to acknowledge them. relations quickly crumbled. Japan continued her aggressive acts in China, Indochina and Thailand despite the protesting of the United States.

The "Day of Infamy" speech was made by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to a Joint Session of Congress at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, December 8, 1941, in Washington, D.C.

The United States ended all efforts of establishing some sort of peace settlement when on December 7th, 1941 the Japanese Air Force soared in and bombed Pearl Harbor. On December 8th, The outraged United States and the Commonwealth of Nations, with exception to Ireland, declared war on Japan. Several days following this declaration, Germany declared war on the United States.

From 1941 to September of 1945, when all hostilities officially ceased, World War II turned out to be one of the most devastating and costly Global Military conflicts in the history of the world. This war involved 61 countries, 1.7 billion people, which was 3/4 s of the world's population, and cost more than 1 trillion dollars to carry out!

The loss of life was phenomenal, it is estimated that the militaries had lost 25 million troops and the civilian death count was nearly 30 million. Including the 5.5 +/-millions of Jews who perished during the Holocaust and the 110,000 +/-Japanese who were eradicated during the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

World War II was different from any other previous war, as it relied on the total commitment of all of the nations populous and economic resources. There was, however, a positive outcome to this travesty. There was the development of new weaponry, such as the long-range rocket and the A-bomb, as well as radical advancements in the mechanized units and the air force.

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

The Allied Armies, through sacrifice and devotion and with God's help, have wrung from Germany a final and unconditional surrender. The western world has been freed of the evil forces which for five years and longer have imprisoned the bodies and broken the lives of millions upon millions of free-born men. They have violated their churches, destroyed their homes, corrupted their children, and murdered their loved ones. Our Armies of Liberation have restored freedom to these suffering peoples, whose spirit and will the oppressors could never enslave.

Much remains to be done. The victory won in the West must now be won in the East. The whole world must be cleansed of the evil from which half the world has been freed. United, the peace-loving nations have demonstrated in the West that their arms are stronger by far than the might of dictators or the tyranny of military cliques that once called us soft and weak. The power of our peoples to defend themselves against all enemies will be proved in the Pacific war as it has been proved in Europe.

For the triumph of spirit and of arms which we have won, and for its promise to peoples everywhere who join us in the love of freedom, it is fitting that we, as a nation, give thanks to Almighty God, who has strengthened us and given us the victory.

Now, THEREFORE, I, HARRY S. TRUMAN, President of the United States of America, do hereby appoint Sunday, May 13, 1945, to be a day of prayer.

I call upon the people of the United States, whatever their faith, to unite in offering joyful thanks to God for the victory we have won and to pray that He will support us to the end of our present struggle and guide us into the way of peace.

I also call upon my countrymen to dedicate this day of prayer to the memory of those who have given their lives to make possible our victory.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

DONE at the City of Washington this eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and sixty-ninth.

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*Republican Party - - the political Party organized by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in 1791 that went out of existence over the schism between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Today, for the sake of expediency, political scientists refer to it as the Democratic-Republican Party. Party Members at the time never utilized the name Democratic-Republican because it was the Republican Party.

**Acting US President - David Atchison never claimed that he was the President of the United States for one day on March 4, 1849. Political Scientists who make the assertion claim that because Zachary Taylor refused to be sworn in on a Sunday, March 4, 1849, and both the President and Vice President's term ended on that date the President pro-tempore of the U.S. Senate, David Atchison, therefore became the President under 1849 Presidential succession law.